


Paradise Lost

by AnchoredTether



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also inspired by Beastars, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Animal Instincts, Animal Traits, Because They're Dorks, Bigotry & Prejudice, Class Differences, Dorks in Love, F/M, Feral Behavior, Fugitives, Human Experimentation, Hybrids, Inspired by Zootopia (2016), It gets dark, Kidnapping, Science Experiments, Slavery, Thief Lance (Voltron), Torture, Violence, Weird slow burn, and also a lot darker because this is me we're talking about, dark themes, i love it, kind of, society is totally messed up in this AU, they take a long time, wow that's actually a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:14:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24582895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnchoredTether/pseuds/AnchoredTether
Summary: When humanity falls to a new strain of cancer, the only chance for survival is turning to controversial sciences. After cloning fails and the world is dwindling in numbers, mankind discovers the answer in fusing genetics to mutate out the deadly cancer strain. This discovery not only saves what little is left of humanity but dooms it to a cruel reality of social inequality that yields no hope of ever changing.Pidge learns of the injustice first hand when she's captured during her search for her missing father and brother, turned into a hybrid and set to be sold as a slave. She has failed, and gloomily accepts her fate to a life of misery until she happens to meet another hybrid who breaks into the same facility to save his sister.She isn't certain she can trust him, but what other choice does she have in this new and terrifying world she's thrust into where she's treated as nothing more than an animal?
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 16
Kudos: 26





	1. Jailbreak

Pidge detects the sound of careful, stealthy footsteps. Her long ears can hear just about anything, so no matter how quiet one tries to be, she can pinpoint the source. It isn't the clunky steps of one of the guards, no, or the soft but quick steps of one of the scientists. This is someone deliberately sneaking in and desiring to remain undetected. She moves closer to the bars of her cell to get a whiff of the intruder to see if she can get an idea from scent alone, but all she can tell is that he's not human.

Is it a canine? She isn't sure, she's never scented someone quite like… _that_ before.

"Hey!" she dares to whisper out into the darkness, hoping to catch their attention. The footsteps stop. She doesn't want to plead, but her fear overrules her pride. "Help me out, please!"

A few tics later and she can hear soft clambering down until a figure appears at the end of the long room. She sees a hint of red eye shine and the vague outline of a tall, slender figure. He slowly approaches, still being cautious to not alert anyone else that he's here. When he steps closer to the faint light from under the crack of the door near her cell, she sees he has long triangular ears and a long, bushy tail. Wolf, maybe? No, his ears and tail were too long. How come she couldn't recognize his scent?

"What are you?" she asks softly, grabbing the bars and pulling her face closer to make out as many details as she can, but the darkness only allows so much for her to absorb.

"Kind of a rude thing to ask when you're begging to be released," the man scoffs, but there's a hint of humor in his tone. "I could easily take offense and leave you to your… _fate."_

"I-I'm sorry, I'm super confused about your scent and I can't figure it out." Her ears flatten against her head embarrassingly. How did she slip up so quickly? This is her only chance at freedom. "You don't have to tell me. But can you at least unlock the door? That's all I ask and then I'll get out of your way."

The canine hybrid lowers his ears slightly. It's hard to read his expression in the darkness but Pidge can sense he's weighing his options. "Maybe we can strike a deal. If I set you free, will you help me find my sister?"

"Your sister? Is she stuck here?" she asks.

"I think so. At least, I hope so. I risked my tail getting a proper lead on this place." She can detect a trace of bitterness on his tongue. He moves around to the front of her enclosure where the door and lock were located, his eyes studying the mechanism. "So how does this thing work?"

Her heart drops. "Wait, what do you mean? It's not a standard Cahan-12?"

"I have no idea what that means, Carrots. It looks like it wants a bioscan."

"A _bioscan?!_ " She quickly covers her mouth, realizing she is being far too loud for a jailbreak. She hardly has time to recognize the obnoxious nickname he deemed her and instead asks, "Is there at least a keypad as well?"

"Nope, just a touchscreen with a lock symbol - and I'm betting you twenty bucks if I so much as _breathe_ on it, it'll set something off."

Pidge racks her brain for other ideas, wondering if there's anything in the room that can help. "Is there any...tool or mechanism around that can help you open it? There has to be something you can jimmy it with-"

"You must be worth a hefty price otherwise they wouldn't stick you in such an elaborate cage," he muses. "I have a wild idea. Act like you don't know what's going on, okay?"

Before she can ask him what he means by that he's placing his hand upon the interface, setting off a bright red light illuminating his face. She tries to catch a better view of his features but the room is quickly filled with flashing lights and blaring sirens. Pidge falls back on her feet, holding her sensitive ears flat against her head with shut eyes as she tries to calm her startled heart. When she opens her eyes, the lights are on and the canine hybrid is gone, guards rushing into the room with shouts of questions and commands, running around looking for a perpetrator.

Luckily for Pidge, they are quick to shut off the alarm. As two guards mull over the security lock she catches one of them mentioning "that's a rare one."

"Find the hybrid immediately!" Most of them leave, only two guards left behind as they fiddle with the lock. One of them turns to Pidge and addresses her.

"Who was here? Did someone try to break you out?"

She lets out a whimper as she cowers on the ground, curling in on herself. She learned a long time ago that they didn't take kindly to defiance, so she acted submissive just to survive this horrid place. "I-I don't know, i-it was dark..."

"Can't you see well in the dark though?"

"She's a rabbit," the other guard interjects. "They don't have night vision, idiot."

"They don't?"

Pidge shakes her head when he looks at her. "Comparable to a human's," she confirms with irritation. Her vision didn't change at all when she was biologically altered.

"Well did you hear or smell anything? You had to have sensed something!"

She opens her mouth, about to mention smelling canine, but then remembers to play dumb. "I was asleep...the sirens woke me up..." It is the dead of night so she hopes they buy it…

The guard sighs. "Guess we'll have to see the security footage for hope of any clues-"

In a flash the guard is cut off and there's wild movement of bodies as both guards suddenly are knocked out cold and collapse to the floor. The canine hybrid stands with a smug look on his face. "You know this works out perfectly, because we probably drew the guards away from where my sister is at, which makes my rescue and your escape all the easier."

Despite this revelation, all Pidge can do is gawk at him with proper lighting. She takes in his sculpted muscles beneath a skin-tight black top, his triangular ears a similar color against his short brown hair. His skin is gorgeously tan with sparkling sapphires for eyes, and it's his swaying tail behind him with a distinct white tip that gives away his species.

"You're a fox!" she says dumbly, but it's better than the dozen other inappropriate thoughts running through her head.

"Fox-wolf hybrid, actually," he corrects with a raised brow before crouching down to rummage through the guards' pockets. "One of them's gotta have a- aha." He pulls out a card and stands up, swiping it in front of the lock to her cell, eliciting a beep before the deadlocks slide open.

When he opens the door and scans her body it is only now that she self-consciously realizes she's wearing little more than a thin, oversized shirt. She feels her face grow hot and she does her best to cover herself. She isn't sure if she wants his help at this point or if she would rather try escaping on her own to save what little dignity she has left. "D-don't look at me like that!!" she huffs with a pouting frown.

The man's grin grows teasing and she can see his elongated incisors. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Like a predator or something."

He only shrugs. "Can't help what I am." 

It feels like reality is mocking her to have a fox-wolf hybrid of all hybrids come and save her, a rabbit hybrid. Might as well be a cat and a mouse. "Can I trust you," she blurts flatly before she can consider tact.

"That is definitely a loaded question, but as of right now, I found a way to break in which means I also have an escape route." He holds up his wrist to check something on a device while he speaks. "And considering you're pretty cute, I'd like to help you out. You can come along with me to find my sister, or I can tell you how to get out here on your own if you'd prefer that." He lowers his arm and looks at her, his expression hard. "It's up to you."

In a world where Pidge is robbed of choices, her golden eyes start to well up at the man's proposal. It is the only freedom she has tasted in weeks and it feels so refreshing it is almost intoxicating. His face softens at her display of emotion but she speaks before he can comment on it. "What is your name?"

"…Lance." He takes a few steps to close the gap between them, holding out a hand to help her onto her feet. She can't help but notice he has claws on his hands but she wonders if it is merely a trait of predator genetics. She can't judge based on appearances…not anymore.

"Pidge," she replies, taking his hand as he lifts her onto her feet, utilizing her other arm to better cover herself.

"Was that your name or an explicative?"

She lowers her brows in annoyance. "It's a nickname, Slick." She releases her hand and tries to tug the shirt down as low as she can to cover more of her legs. Her ears lower along with her voice, her tone hesitant. "And I'll…I'll go with you, if you'll let me."

Lance's face lights up and she has a feeling that is the answer he is hoping for. He crouches down by one of the guards and starts rummaging, taking a few things off of his utility belt but also shucking off the guard's outer coat and hands it to Pidge. "Here, wear this."

She grabs at the jacket a little too forcefully, happy to wrap it around her small frame and hide most of her indecency. She has no time to thank him as he pulls on her arm, yanking her down and around the side of a storage unit as more guards enter the room. Lance has completely wrapped his long limbs around her, his hand covering her mouth. They sit in the cramped up corner for a few minutes until silence returns, Lance slowly releasing her from his hold.

"Follow me," he mouths before climbing up the side of the storage unit. Pidge follows the best she can, awkwardly hauling herself up while he gracefully leaps and bounds like an acrobat. She blames her short limbs but she has a feeling he's been doing this kind of stuff for a while. He makes it look all too easy.

Once they're inside an air duct crawling on their stomachs, Pidge pauses to catch her breath. "Wait," she breathes between huffs. She can barely see the side of his face as he turns over his shoulder to look at her.

"It is _really_ cramped in here for me Carrots, it's just a little further."

"No I get that, but-" She sucks in a large breath before continuing. "I…don't want to rain on your parade but I think we need to give up and try saving your sister another time."

Lance only growls and continues crawling ahead.

Pidge huffs and hurries after him, grabbing his wrist once they're out of the air duct and in some type of storage room. "Hey, listen to me! They were talking about you, the guards at my cell. They _know_ you're here, and apparently you're rare which means they won't stop until they find either of us-"

"I _know_ what they said!" he snarls, his eyes wounded. "But I can't give up now, I've made it this far! You have to understand, I've lost _so much,_ I _can't_ lose her too."

Her expression is troubled, her grasp slackening but she doesn't release his arm. "I know loss too, believe me. But it won't mean anything if you get captured in the process of saving her. There are _too many_ guards, Lance. And they are aware of not only my escape, but that you're in the vicinity as well. _We've lost the advantage._ We need to _leave."_

His anger slowly dissipates into despair and lets out a defeated scoff. "Why do you care what happens to me? Shouldn't you just take advantage and run?"

The question throws her off guard, causing her ears to twitch upwards. Her hand slides down to hold his, hoping he can read her words are genuine. "You're a good person, Lance. You stopped to save me even though it would be a disadvantage to your plans. You're risking your life to save your sister. I…" Her eyes fall to the floor, her heart aching as she has to recount the truth of her situation. "There's a scarcity of good people in this world. We have to stick together otherwise we will never survive." She looks up at him with determined eyes, her brows creased in pleading. "I will return to help you free your sister from this awful place. But for now…we need to retreat."

Lance's pinned back ears slowly swivel forward as he looks away and narrows his eyes as he weighs his options. His tail twitches in irritation but his anger eventually fades, his eyes only encompassing sadness. "I hate it, but you're right." He looks at her before tugging on her hand, leading her a new direction. "I can't protect you and find my sister, but I can't abandon you either."

She knows the pain of his predicament and how the decision must weigh heavily upon his heart, but there is a warmth that blossoms in her chest at the assurance that she won't have to wonder whether her rescuer died or was captured as she tries to fall asleep that night.

"Thank you, Lance," she says so softly she isn't sure he hears.

But sure enough, one of his ears rotates back towards her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a wild idea of mine that is loosely based on Zootopia that's been stewing on the back burner for a while and I suddenly got slammed with muse for it, so here it is. As always, thoughts and comments are welcome!


	2. Wild Side

"What do you mean 'I can't go home'?"

They are at Lance's house and despite their quiet entrance, his niece and nephew are now wide awake and  _ very _ interested in Pidge's ears. They looked around six and appeared to be twins with identical complexion and matching brown wolf ears and tails. Lance gave her clothes to change into so she is slightly more comfortable even though they are loose on her - it is better than the security guard's jacket that barely covered her. 

Lance pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly struggling to describe her new predicament. "So, you're from the upper district, right?" he asks.

"Yes, West Gate to be exact."

He sighs. "So, you're...no longer human. Only humans are permitted in the upper district."

"But I see hybrids all the time-"

"Yes, because they're  _ owned _ by humans. You have no owner, so it's illegal for you to be there."

Pidge blinks a few times, leaning her head as Nadia tugs one of her ears. "Can't my mother...buy me, or something? I just want to see her again!" 

"It's...more complicated than that. Hey, stop that," he tells his niece, pulling her off the couch and holding her so she can play with his ears instead. "And it's extremely dangerous if you get caught, so it's not worth risking it."

She pulls her knees in towards her chest, her heart racing at all the uncertainty. "What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?" She barely notices Lance leaving the room as her panic comes crashing down. Sylvio wraps his little arms around her waist and buries his head against her side.

"Don't cryyyy," he pleads, his voice muffled. Pidge realizes her eyes are wet and she tries her best to blink them away. She pulls him in closer and wraps her arms around him, her tears a lost cause. 

"What's your name, dear?"

Pidge looks up to see a woman whom she can only assume is Lance's mother. She has the same dark brown triangular ears and reddish-brown fox tail and even the same blue eyes. "Pidge," she says softly.

"Pidge, I'm Lucia." She sits down on the couch besides her, grabbing a box of tissues on the side table and holding it out to her. "Do you need somewhere to stay? You're welcome to rest here."

Pidge gratefully takes a tissue and wipes at her eyes, still sniffling. "Thank you, I don't know what I'm going to do..."

Lance walks back in juggling his niece in one arm and a plate with the other. He hands it to her and she finds crackers with cheese and peanut butter. "Oh, I guess I should have checked if you were allergic - can you eat peanut butter?"

"I  _ love _ peanut butter," she cries with such fondness as if peanut butter is a rare commodity.

As she continues to happily eat, Lance speaks. "You can sleep on Rachel's bed for now...and maybe I can figure out some kind of temporary job for you where I work, at least until you get back on your feet."

She is not expecting that kind of generosity from him and speaks with a mouth full of cheese. "What do you do?"

"I’m a doctor at the hospital."

She nearly chokes on her cheese.  _ "You _ are a doctor?" He seems to be around her age which is way too young to be a doctor. “You have a medical degree?”

Lance blinks, his ears twitching. "What's that?"

Pidge looks over at Lucia to see any sign that Lance is pulling her leg, but her expression is neutral. "You know...a certificate? Higher education?"

He blinks again and then he's throwing his head back in a giddy laugh. "Oh right, those things. University, right?" 

She doesn't understand, her ears perking up as she raises a quizzical brow. "What is so funny?"

"Pidgeon, asking a hybrid if they have gone to a university is like asking a bird if she can swim."

She sits up a little, tucking her legs to the side and moving Sylvio to sit in her lap. "So you mean to tell me that there's no education available to hybrids?"

"Not exactly," Lucia answers. "Most of us are homeschooled and eventually apprenticed when old enough. There's no public schools or colleges for our kind."

So many questions run through her mind. How could hybrids survive with no professionals? Did humanity leave them to rot outside of their perfect community? How long did she live blindly believing humans and hybrids are only separated like two different cities? There is so much more than mere separation going on here, and it causes her stomach to churn uncomfortably. 

"That's awful..." she says numbly, unable to fully comprehend at the moment that this is now her reality as well.

Lance sets Nadia down and she immediately runs to Pidge, climbing up onto the couch to play with one of her ears again. He lets out a laugh. "Sorry, they're at that curious age."

“It’s fine,” she says softly. She will never admit it but she finds the touch upon her ears extremely comforting. She wishes for nothing more than to be able to snuggle her mother or Bae Bae so the current physical touch is holding herself together. She tries to distract herself from her homesickness, remembering that Lance misses family members too. “Is Rachel the one that’s…?”

His expression falls, his eyes so sad she fights the urge to embrace him. “Yeah...she went missing almost two weeks ago. A lot of hybrids have been kidnapped within the past six months, actually...and I can’t help but wonder if there’s something else going on and Rachel’s now in the thick of it…” He shakes his head. “But we can talk about that more tomorrow. We should get some rest, especially these two,” he says as he steps forward to pick up Nadia.

Pidge hands Sylvio over to Lucia and Lance shows her to his sister’s room, letting her know where his room is in case she needs anything in the night. Rachel’s room is small but cozy, the walls filled with pictures of her family and the bed overflowing with soft blankets and stuffed animals. She looks at the pictures more closely to discover that most of their family are wolf hybrids. Lucia, Lance, and Rachel were the only ones with fox traits, and the more pictures of Lance and Rachel she observes at various ages, she can only conclude they must be twins as well.

Lance understands her pain better than most. She can tell he and Rachel are close by pictures alone, and Pidge feels the same gaping pain in her heart for her lost brother. 

She crawls into bed, snuggling as many blankets as she can and keeping all the stuffed animals for company. She hugs a giant dolphin and cries herself to sleep, still terrified at all the uncertainty in her life. There has to be something she can do to fix all of this and she can’t help the pestering thought that Rachel, Matt, and her father missing might be connected. And why were so many hybrids gone missing like Lance said? There is something more going on under the surface and Pidge is determined to figure it out.

The next morning Lance wakes her up before the sun rises. They were awake only a few hours ago so she is feeling groggy and slightly annoyed. She has no idea where he gets all his energy from, rushing around the kitchen as he prepares breakfast to go. He’s practically shoving her out the door with a smile on his face while she’s still trying to get her ears to perk up.

“How’d you sleep?” he asks before taking a bite of his egg sandwich.

“Barely,” she answers. The walk along quiet, deserted streets to the hospital is eerie but also peaceful. She is grateful for the jacket Lance gave her to keep warm with the gray hoodie over her head, but she keeps her ears down instead of poking them through the holes in the hood so she can keep herself warmer.

“It has to be better than that cell, right?” 

“Oh, sorry,” she says with a frown, “I’m really grateful for the bed, and it was lovely, and-”

“Oh no, I wasn’t trying to call you out or anything!” Lance apologizes with a raised hand. “Sorry I was just trying to make conversation and it came out wrong.”

“Still...thank you.” She looks away, too embarrassed to make eye contact. Lance also happened to look really good in a lab coat and she couldn’t quite stop the instinct to stare and observe him. “You’ve done so much for me when it was only an inconvenience to you...I plan to repay the favor one day.”

“You really don’t have to,” he says with a mouth full of sandwich. After he swallows he turns to look down at her and she can’t help but look up. “I enjoy helping people. It’s kind of why I’m in the medical field.”

Pidge hums, taking a long sip of her coffee. It is creamy and sweet and she detects a delightful hint of cinnamon. “How long have you been in the medical field?” 

“Umm...a  _ while,”  _ he laughs, his face scrunching up as he thinks. “I started apprenticing when I was thirteen so...almost a decade now?”

She can barely believe the world she witnesses is real. A guy only slightly older than her is a  _ doctor _ and has been for several years. The city is old and run down, buildings rusting and cracking from decades of wear and use, a stark contrast to the pristine streets and homes of her former neighborhood. The trees and bushes that grow along sidewalks are large and wild, unlike the smaller, maintained flora of the upper district. There is no education down here and the people survive simply by helping and teaching each other. And it sounds like hybrids are disappearing left and right and there is no one they can turn to for help, not if Lance has to investigate and save his sister all on his own. Everything seems so wrong and Pidge feels helpless to do anything to change it.

Silence passes for too long without her realizing it that Lance’s voice nearly causes her to jump. “What did you do before...you know. Getting captured?”

“I didn’t really... _ do _ anything, I was a student at the Garrison,” she answers, clearing her throat awkwardly. “I was majoring in astrophysics and computer science though.” 

“Wow! You must be really smart! N-not that I thought you were dumb or anything before, but that’s - that’s impressive!” He hastily shoves the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, speaking again once he finished swallowing. “I mean you know about different types of locks apparently so that must be something to do with computers.”

“If it had a keypad I would have been able to instruct you how to override it. A backdoor of sorts in the system.” She lets out a sigh. “But bioscans are pretty impossible to hack unless I have a laptop and a good half hour to work on it.” 

“Wait, hold up,” Lance spun around in front of her to stop both of them in their tracks. “You know how to  _ hack?” _

Pidge shrugs. “Yeah? It’s fairly easy stuff once you get the hang of it-”

“I hate to ask you for that favor you offered but do you think you could help me with something?” His tail flicks anxiously behind him. “I’ll have to explain the details later but I think hacking could really help us out…”

She blinks up at him, wondering what exactly his plan entails. He used “us” instead of referring to only himself so she speculates it has to do with helping his sister...or perhaps just helping others in general as he stated before. She has a feeling whatever he’s asking her to do is illegal but if that is the only way to help the people in the lower district, Pidge is willing to cross that line.

“I’ll do what I can,” she promises with a nod. She can’t make any guarantees but she wants to help in any way she can. She still feels the need to help Lance rescue Rachel since she ruined his chances of saving her, and hopes an opportunity arises for them to try again.

Lance’s face lights up with an excited gasp, his blue eyes sparkling. “You’re the best, Carrots!” When he turns around and starts walking again Pidge can’t help but smile when she notices his tail is subtly wagging. She catches up to him and they continue walking to the hospital, a structure that certainly doesn’t look medical but more like a worn down office building.

“Are you scared of needles?” Lance asks as they walk through hallways, greeting the occasional worker that walks by. 

“Bit of a random question but uhh…not terribly so?” Pidge answers with a curious raise of an eyebrow.

“I want to see what your blood looks like, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh. Sure...why are you interested in that?”

“I want to see if engineered hybrids are different from natural hybrids,” he answers, leading her into a room where he has her sit on a chair while he prepares the medical equipment on a nearby table. “Maybe it would explain why you were  _ changed…” _

_ “Why _ I was changed? I’m pretty sure they changed me just to get rid of me. I knew they were going to sell me into the sex trade, so I was just going to become someone’s plaything,” she scowls, the fact of the matter still tasting gross in her mouth.

He snaps on a pair of gloves and approaches her with the syringe. “No, I think there may be more to it than that.” He gestures for her arm and gently preps it when she reaches it out to him. “Do you understand how hybrid blood works?”

Pidge yelps as the needle goes in, her ears flinging upwards and softly smacking Lance in the face. “N-n...it works differently??”

“Different from human blood, yes.” 

She swallows heavily, staring at the syringe as it fills with crimson. “They...never taught us anything about that in school…” She now wonders  _ why... _ if half of the world’s population’s blood is  _ different _ she figures she would have learned about it. Why is it kept a secret from humans? “How is it different?”

Lance finishes and gives her a cotton ball to press against the wound, sticking the syringe safely in a container. “It’ll be easier to explain when I have the computer analyze it, but essentially humans need hybrid blood in order to survive. There’s too many diseases that would kill them otherwise. If you want to live you have to either be a hybrid or temporarily gain their DNA to fight off mutating diseases that reach your systems.”

Her heart sinks and she can feel the pounding in her ears from more than the recent drawing of her blood. She  _ needed  _ someone else’s blood to survive all these years? Everyone in the upper district relies on hybrids just to _ live? _ “The supplement tablets…” she realizes numbly.

“I assume you took something regularly to get your fix. Probably disguised as a vitamin or something since you apparently don’t know anything about it.”

“I thought it was just my parents keeping me healthy…”

“Well, it was the government keeping you alive.” 

  
  



	3. Rehabilitation

"So all this time, hybrids have just been a human resource?" 

Lance opens a door with the key card on his lanyard and holds it open for her. "When you put it like that...well, yeah." He shuts the door behind them and moves towards a piece of equipment that will analyze her blood sample. "It's not like they harvest us though, they just need our DNA. Donating blood isn't a big deal and we get paid to do so. Some families can live off of that income alone." 

He notices her curious eyes widen. "How much are they paying you?? It's got to be a lot in order to feed a family for three months-" 

"Oh that's right, humans can only donate blood every once in a while, right? Three months though, really? Wow." He shakes his head as he preps the syringe into the compartment of the machine’s desk. "Hybrids can donate as often as once a week, depending on their animal genetics." 

She is quiet for a moment as if she is trying to process this information. "How does it not kill you?" She sounds more concerned than surprised. 

Lance only shrugs. "We're different species? Most hybrids have a faster heart rate than humans, and we're more physically sound. From what I've studied, humans are extremely fragile creatures." 

Pidge sputters a little. "W-well you're not _wrong_ , I mean just hitting our head in the right spot can kill us but...I didn't think hybrids were _that_ much stronger..." 

"We came from genetic engineering, so of course they would add a few more... _enhancements."_ He wonders how much of Pidge was changed or if they only gave her rabbit traits. If she was a candidate for the sex slave trade he didn’t see much point to adding any more genetic enhancements beyond merely stripping her humanity. He sets up the machine and the container holding her blood starts to run through several scans, a faint blue light moving up and down as it works. He plops into a swivel chair, nudging one towards her with his foot before crossing his legs. “It’ll take a few minutes.”

She sits down across from him, her hands idly tugging on one of her long ears. A moment passes where neither of them talks but it doesn’t feel awkward. Eventually Pidge perks up and asks him another question. “How common are…people like me?”

He frowns. He isn’t certain what kind of answer to give her and he gets the impression she is trying to find some kind of commonality or reassurance. Even as a doctor interacting with hundreds of patients, he has no idea what kind of statistic exists for her kind. 

Then the gears begin turning and his curiosity gets the better of him. “Now _I_ want to know.”

“How do you mean?”

“Why _were_ you changed? How did you end up at that place?”

“Well…I was kind of in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

It is a vague answer but he feels she is being genuine. “So you were kidnapped? You didn’t submit yourself over to any program or get accepted for a new job hire or anything sketch like that?”

“No, I was just… _caught._ Because I shouldn’t have been where I was.”

Lance raises a skeptical brow. “What exactly were you doing?? Breaking the law?”

“Yes and no? Well…yes, actually. Just yes. I was investigating my missing brother and father.”

"So you have missing family too…" The machine analyzing her blood makes a chirping sound and Lance swivels his chair over to the desk to look at the results. “Do you think they might have ended up in a similar situation to you? Maybe they’re in one of the lower districts as well.”

Her ears slowly perk up until they are upright. “I don’t know…they’ve been missing for almost a year. They could be anywhere by now…possibly even dead.”

As Lance clicks through various diagrams to read her results, he tries to think of a way to comfort her. “You can’t focus on the ‘what ifs.’ You just have to work on finding them.”

“But what if they’re in the upper districts? I can’t go there anymore.”

“If you are a hacker like you say, I might be able to help you with that. But for now, I think I have an idea of what’s going on with you.” He pats the air next to his chair, inviting her to sit closer so she can see the display. She scoots in, her eyes wide as she marvels at the medical technology. 

“That’s incredible you can read that much information from my blood alone,” she remarks.

He hums in agreement. “The tech in the upper district is even better than what we have available, but it’s still pretty amazing. But anywho, the good news is you seem to be normal - at least by hybrid standards. I can’t tell that you are a human turned hybrid and there seems to be no abnormalities or complications.”

“Oh.” She purses her lips together in thought. “Would it be bad if you could tell I wasn’t always a hybrid?”

“It would mean your genetics didn’t fully change and that could cause further complications later on. So whatever sketch organization transformed you they at least had the proper equipment and resources to make it happen.” 

“Oh,” is all she can say again. He can only imagine everything is a bit of an information overload so he tries his best to take things slowly.

“I don’t know how much you know about hybrids, seeing as you didn’t know about our blood being used to keep humans alive, but we actually have a variety of species in our genetics despite only having one ‘trait’ that’s physical.”

“So I’m not just rabbit?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. And my suspicions were right because the other species they chose for you are all known to be either extremely friendly, submissive, docile, or have uhh...high libidos. You were definitely designed for the sex slave trade.”

Pidge makes a sound of disgust. “I should have known. I mean as the saying goes, ‘breed like rabbits,’ right?” She lets out a laugh but there is no humor behind the sound.

“Well, rabbits are also really clever a-a-and cute, so it’s not totally a bad thing-”

“But weren’t all rabbit hybrids initially made with this ulterior purpose in mind?”

He sighs. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” His dark ears flatten against his head. “But it certainly doesn’t define you. I mean I don’t fall under all the stereotypes of a fox. It’s hard to judge someone based solely on their trait anyways since hybrids are always a myriad of species.”

She wraps her arms around her stomach, her eyes downcast for a moment. “I suppose that’s true. You can’t judge a book by its cover and it’s even more true for hybrids.” She lifts her gaze to meet his. “So what else am I?” 

“Horse, capybara, fruit bat, and lion.”

“Fruit bat?” Her expression is a mixture of abject horror and utter shock. “That explains why I’ve been dying to have cantaloupe and strawberries…” There is a long pause where he can see she’s trying to process this new information. “What are you exactly? I-I mean aside from fox and wolf?”

“Uhh let’s see…I have ocelot, ferret, dog, and cheetah.”

“Huh…those are all so different from each other. So why do you say you’re a fox-wolf hybrid when you can only have one trait? Are your ears wolf ears and your tail fox or something?”

He laughs. “No, they’re fox ears. But it’s because the percentage of wolf in my genetics is equal to fox, I just happened to take on fox traits. It’s actually incredibly rare to have that happen, we’re referred to as twin hybrids or twin-brids. Most hybrids are close to fifty-fifty with human and their trait species taking up their genetics, with the additional species only compromising a small percentage. But in my case, I’m more animal than human. It’s closer to forty percent human while thirty percent fox and thirty percent wolf.”

“Oh…that explains why the guards at the lab said you were rare. Does being a twin-brid cause you any problems?”

He twists his lips and shrugs. “I don’t think so. It’s just an abnormality. Kind of like how blue eyes in humans is technically a mutation.” He pops out the blood sample from the machine and hands the container to her. “If you want, you can go ahead and donate that to get some money to help get back on your feet. You’re still welcome to stay at my place as long as you need though.”

She stares at the container in her hands for a long time before uttering a soft “thank you.” 

“I’ll show you how to donate it and you can either stick around here with me or go explore the city. There’s probably things you want to get.” He stands up from the chair and leads her out to one of the front desks where a lady takes her blood sample and provides her money.

Pidge decides she needs some time alone and thanks him for everything before leaving the hospital. Lance can't blame her, it was a large information dump for one day. He feels the need to monitor her condition and make certain she adjusts to her new life and can start smiling again…he isn't sure if it's just his doctor instincts treating her like another patient or if there is another reason behind his interest and concern for her. While he certainly thinks she's ridiculously cute, he thinks a lot of women are cute and he has a feeling it's more than just that.

There is something special about Pidge. He hopes she can get the refreshment she needs by spending some time alone to process, but he can't help consistently wondering how she's doing while he helps patients as they come in.

* * *

Pidge tries to distract herself by keeping busy and makes a list of all the necessities she will need. She learns from Lucia that in the lower districts people simply claim parts of buildings as their own. Considering most of the buildings are extremely run down, it makes sense that there's no such thing as mortgage or rent. Hybrids are literally living in the remains of cities where humans were wiped out from disease. Lucia shows her the locations of a few buildings nearby that might suit her needs.

After a few hours of searching, she finds a spot that feels promising. It is a humble space on the top floor of an apartment complex but has access to the roof from the small outdoor balcony. She knows she will enjoy that feature in the long run. One of the rooms has a broken window and was destroyed from weather and the bathroom would need some work before it can be usable, but otherwise it is in decent shape compared to most of the buildings in the city. There is even a mattress left behind in good condition and a working fridge. Pidge is surprised such large furniture remained but figures no one wanted to haul it down five flights of stairs.

There are a few essentials she needs to start living comfortably, such as new sheets for the bed, a broom and some cleaning supplies to make her new home feel less like it's been abandoned for decades, a new lock for the front door, some lightbulbs or lamps or candles for the parts of the apartment that have no lighting, and at least some food to last her until she finds a job or can donate more blood. How often did Lance say they can donate? So much has happened that she can't recall. She should really buy some of her own clothes as well so she doesn't have to keep borrowing Rachel's.

What she really wants is a laptop. But she has no idea how she will obtain enough money to buy one or if there even are any laptops available in the lower districts. There's no way she will be able to investigate her missing family without one. There may be public computers available somewhere and if that's her only option she will have to make due.

She learns the layout of the city without straying too far. It is much larger than the number of people residing within it but they are all gathered around the center. Abandoned buildings stretch beyond the inhabited parts - proof that it was once a massive city. She is happy to find there is a library - albeit with a limited selection since most were damaged over the years - and there are two working public computers. She won't be able to spend long sessions on one but she at least has the piece of mind that she can look up something here and there if needs be.

She is surprised to find the occasional human living in the lower district. She wonders if there is a particular reason they live here, such as poverty or a criminal record, or maybe they learned the ugly truth about the chasm between societies and they want to help the hybrids. Pidge certainly never thought they were treated so poorly and lived in such disparaging circumstances, not until she was personally thrust into it.

It is almost dinner time when she finishes her errands and realizes she has not eaten yet, not since the breakfast Lance made for her. She makes a peanut butter sandwich and grabs the container of assorted fruits she bought and sits down on her bed to write down everything she can recall from the moment she was captured. She opens up the sage green notebook she acquired earlier and begins scribbling away at every little detail.

 _July 11th - date I infiltrated the warehouse  
_ _IP address logs from dad’s laptop directed to this location - 38 W 2049 S  
_ _workers wore gray and purple uniforms - insignia resembles a spider?  
_ _caught and transported - no idea where. Duration maybe ~~3~~ 2 hours?  
_ _knocked out with serum upon arrival_

 _Woke up in a lab - date still unknown  
_ _memory blurry, remember hearing someone mentioning my name  
_ _fell unconscious again_

 _Woke up sore and groggy - date still unknown  
_ _was on a bed in some kind of cell  
_ _remember eating food, some kind of wrap?  
_ _a woman injected something in my arm when I was done eating_

 _Lots of fragments of moments - no idea how much time passed  
_ _don’t know how much of it was real how much was dreaming (or hallucinating?)  
_ _they changed my breasts?? - am I a C or D now? I don’t know  
_ _Ugh_

 _Learned I was going to become a hybrid  
_ _I remember fighting someone but I was ~~stunned~~ electrocuted, could barely breathe  
_ _was I wearing some kind of device?  
_ _and bloody nose - was I punched? or was that from the electrocution?  
_ _some people wore the purple/gray uniforms, some wore white/gray/blue ones - different organizations? different positions? couldn’t tell if the white one had the same insignia  
_ _drugged up again_

 _In and out of consciousness - no idea on time  
_ _heard something about sex slave trade_

 _Date???  
_ _woke up in the cell where Lance eventually found me  
_ _no idea how much time has passed  
_ _there are also guards in navy uniforms, different insignia - 3 letters, some acronym?  
_ _tried to get used to my ears, tail, new senses - hearing is a pain now  
_ _a day or two passes?  
_ _then Lance arrived - escaped to his house_

 _August 3rd - over 3 weeks has passed  
_ _went to hospital with Lance (still can’t get over that he’s a doctor)  
 ~~did Lance call me cute earlier?~~  
_ _found out my new genetics  
_ _horse, fruit bat, capybara, lion  
_ _Lance’s are fox, wolf, ocelot, cheetah, ~~weasel~~ ferret, dog?  
_ _can donate blood every _____ - $300 compensation  
_ _have an apartment and got some basic supplies; still need laptop/computer, phone?, tools, silverware/dishes, fix up the bathroom  
_ _can probably turn the room with broken window into a greenhouse - there’s already plants growing in there anyways - grow some veggies - mom would be proud_

She scribbles various doodles with her notes, including some attempts at the animals in her genetics. She isn’t quite sure what capybaras look like so she is certain it’s an inaccurate depiction. _Friendly, submissive, docile, high libidos_ …Lance’s description of her genetics still eats at her mind like an infection. It makes her stomach sick to think that there are people out there who can consciously change someone to be a cute sex toy that would obey every disgusting command. How much has her new genetics changed her? How much of Pidge still remains?

When will she snap and act like something else entirely?

A knock on her door causes her to let out a startled squeak. She rushes over to the door and hears a familiar voice on the other side.

“Hey Pidge? It’s Lance.”

She opens the door and has to admit she’s happy to see him, her ears perking up without her permission. “Who else would it be? Because so many people in this town know me by name.”

“Ha, funny. I see you’ve got your own place.”

“Yeah, I - wait, how did you figure out where I was?” She gestures for him to come in before shutting the door behind them. “I didn’t tell your family yet.”

“Uhh don’t be too weirded out by this, buuut…” He taps his nose with his index finger.   
  
“You _sniffed_ me out?!” She clears her throat since her voice goes too high for her liking. “That is both impressive and terrifying.”

He laughs and she realizes too late she’s glad he doesn’t take offense to it. “In my defense predators have a really good sense of smell. Plus, you kind of smell like my sister since you were wearing her clothes.”

“Right. That reminds me…” She grabs the folded pile off her bed and hands them to him. “I got some clothes today so you can have these back. Thank you.”

“No problem!” She sees the white tip of his tail swish behind him. “So it doesn’t look like there are any jobs at the hospital but the good news is I was able to get you a job through my friend Shiro - he works at the police station. If you want it, I can message Shiro to expect you tomorrow, or whenever you’re ready to start.”

“Oh wow, thank you. I…can definitely use the distraction.” She holds her arm and lowers her gaze, her expression troubled. “I might even find more clues to finding my family while working for the police…and,” She raises her eyes to meet his gaze. “I still plan to help you find Rachel. I made a deal with you and I intend to keep my end of it.”

His eyes soften and there’s a faint smile upon his lips. “I appreciate that. I’ll let you know the next time I’m ready to infiltrate.”  
  
A twitch of a smile tries to form in the corner of her mouth. “Does this officially make us partners in crime?”

He offers her a devilish grin. “You bet it does.”


	4. Not a Real Cop

Pidge takes Lance’s offer and gets ready to walk to the police station the next morning. She feels like she should wear something nicer to make a good first impression, but considering the circumstances she hopes she’ll be fine with her pale green shirt and khaki pants. She isn’t sure if the job offer will involve an interview or a test or if she will be immediately thrust into training. 

She is surprised to find Lance knocking on her door early that morning, offering to walk her over to the police station. He is dressed in a turtleneck and lab coat again and she can’t help staring at him a moment longer than she should. 

“So how do you know this Shiro character?” she asks as they head on down the cracked concrete stairs of her apartment complex.

“He’s an old friend,” he explains. “He helped my family a long time ago and he became a role model of sorts. I actually wanted to become a cop as a kid because of him.”

“Really? Then how’d you become a doctor?”

“I learned I have really steady hands and good aim… I was actually one of the best trainees for the police and they nicknamed me the sharpshooter. But there was one day when I had to perform a tracheostomy on a little girl that was choking to death. I knew what to do thanks to my dad being a doctor when all the other kids were panicking. When the paramedics finally arrived they said I had phenomenal talent for my age and should consider joining the medical field. I thought about it for a long time, and while my intentions for joining the police were also to help protect people, I… I had this gut feeling that I should become a doctor.”

“Wow… how old were you when that happened?”

“Twelve, I think?”

“You were only _twelve?!”_

“Like I said, Carrots, we don’t exactly have schools here. We start apprenticeships from a young age instead. I actually started with EMS since I was partially police trained, but eventually worked my way up to doctor.”

“That’s so fascinating to me. It feels like a completely different world in the lower districts.”

“Well yeah, most of us have tails for starters,” he laughs. 

“Not just _that,”_ she says with a roll of her eyes. “Though that’s probably the most obvious difference. I’ve seen a few hybrids in my life but they’re kind of rare in the upper districts. Only the extremely wealthy will have one as a servant but I've interacted with a hybrid before because one of my college professors has a TA who is a hybrid.”

“Oh is that the term they use? ‘ _Servant?’_ As if they’re just a waitress.” His ears flatten and his eyes narrow dangerously. “What kind of hybrid was she?”

Pidge is almost scared to answer, knowing Lance would uncover an ugly truth. “...Fawn.”

“Yep. She’s probably more than just a teacher’s assistant.”

She feels her ears fling upwards attentively. “You can’t assume that! I’m sure there are cases like that out there but my professor wasn’t someone like that, and she was super kind and a happy person-”

Lance spins around so he’s in front of her, stopping both of them in their tracks. Though he appears angry and frustrated she can see it in his eyes that he is ultimately heartbroken by what he says next. “Listen to me Pidge, I ain’t gonna sugarcoat any of this for you, especially considering you’re a rabbit hybrid... you need to know. I don’t think you fully grasp your situation.” He takes a deep breath, his tail moving anxiously, his ears remaining flattened. His eyes look away momentarily and then his voice lowers discreetly. “Hybrids were created for two purposes. To cure humanity of helix cancer and to be _disposable._ We’re used for medicine, for manual labor, as lab rats, as _pleasure._ We are not servants, we are _pets, playthings._ Humans don’t employ us, they _buy_ us. I know you narrowly escaped such a fate, but you’re still stuck in the societal ditch hybrids call home. Even among other hybrids you’ll be looked down on. Not only are you prey but you’re a _rabbit._ It’s a disgusting cruel world we live in and you’re about to experience the worst of it solely because of what you are.”

Her ears and heart sink with every word. Deep in the back of her mind she had a feeling this was exactly her new reality but she refused to acknowledge the darkness it entailed for humanity. As the fox hybrid confirms all her fears, she suddenly feels the weight of being utterly alone. 

And suddenly she’s submerged into the deep end.

She swallows heavily, her skin feeling cold and her mind foggy. “I understand…” she says simply with a numb nod of her head. She couldn’t meet his gaze so she keeps her eyes interested in the cracks of the sidewalk. “I get it. I’ve got the worst of the worst of the short sticks out there. I messed up. I-”

His hand is on her shoulder before she can continue and she finally looks up at him, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. 

“You did _nothing_ wrong.” His expression is pained and he seems to be on the verge of tears as well. “I’m only preparing you for what you will face. None of this is because of something you did.” 

“But I shouldn’t have broken in, I shouldn’t have snooped where I had no business-”

“That sure as hell doesn’t give those bastards the right to strip you of everything and turn you into a sex slave.” 

She is taken aback by the bite in his words as if he personally wants to tear out the throats of those who did this to her, and for a moment she wonders if he would, given the opportunity. The thought causes her brows to crease in thought. “Why do you care so much? You don’t even know me.”

She apparently pulls the proverbial rug out beneath him, his ears perking forward and his eyes widening. “Uhh? Because I want to? I know that’s such a-a lame answer, but I uhh… I like helping people. And besides, you’re super cute.”

“What?!”

Lance nervously turns away to continue leading her towards the police department and by the way he twitches his tail she can only guess he’s blushing. She wipes away her tears with the back of her hand and takes a shaky breath before following after him. 

* * *

  
  


Pidge thought Lance was tall but he looks small compared to the white tiger hybrid who introduces himself as Shiro. Lance had run to work after showing her to the police department so she is now left with the officer who is easily twice her size. Despite his gentle tone and kind smile she can’t help but be nervous, especially considering his entire right arm resembles that of a tiger’s - complete with fur and claws and paw pads though the shape of his hand remains human. She is certain that one swipe from him would be fatal.

“Lance told me a bit about you,” he says as he shows her around the department. “You’re a recently turned hybrid, right?”

She nods and then realizes he probably doesn’t see it since they’re walking side by side. “Yeah.” She doesn’t want to talk too much about it and thankfully Shiro keeps talking so she doesn’t have to elaborate. 

“I’m actually turned as well. Mine was voluntary, however.”

Her ears perk up at this. “Voluntary? N-no offense, but why would you _choose_ this kind of life?”

“It was the only way I could live. I had a terminal disease and despite everything the doctors tried, I was only going to live a few more years at best. But changing my DNA would cure it… so I took the chance to continue living. This is also why my right arm changed as well, but I don’t mind because I was going to lose it eventually from muscle deterioration.”

This revelation causes her chest to tighten. At least she had a choice - while being kidnapped and changed was entirely against her will, she didn't have to go to that facility. Would her life be different if she didn't rush into things and instead dug for more information? If she were more cautious about finding her father and brother would she still be human? The questions sear into her heart as she understands Shiro had to choose transformation or death.

She must have been too lost in her thoughts as Shiro snaps her back to reality. He is holding a cabinet door open to reveal shelves full of folded clothing.

"Holt?"

"Yes! Sorry, what were you saying?"

"What size are you? I'll get you a uniform."

"...Medium?" She isn't certain if she should say large now, considering the change in her bust size.

"...Oh right, human sizing is different." He pulls out a set of folded clothes and hands them to her. _"Lance_ I’m pretty certain would be a medium. I think a human medium would translate to extra-small for hybrid sizes."

Her brows rise to hide under her bangs. "Seriously?? Are most hybrids that much larger?"

"Predator genetics make a hybrid larger than the average human. For example, Lance is tall but his sister Veronica is even taller than him because she inherited wolf traits instead of fox."

"And I'm guessing prey genetics do nothing for height," she says irritably.

"Usually no, unless it's a larger prey genetic such as deer or ram. Let me show you to the locker rooms though so you can see if those fit."

Shiro also gets her some boots in her size and Pidge is grateful to wear something more sturdy than the flimsy flip flops Lance gave her. She is alone in the locker room as she pulls off her clothes to try on the uniform but she pauses when she gets to her pants. Unclasping the strip that crosses over the top of her tail painfully reminds her that this is what she is now, that there is no going back to being human. Even if she did more than simply entertain the morbid solution of amputating her tail and ears, there are more changes to her body than mere physical traits. She has noticed behaviors and desires she can’t explain, urges and instincts that weren’t present before. Some days she wonders if she can even be considered the same person anymore. How much of Pidge was lost when she was changed? How much of herself still remains? 

_Don’t have a breakdown, Pidge. You’re a cop now... sort of._ She certainly doesn’t want Officer Shirogane to find her crying on her first day when she hasn’t even done anything. She would just be the pathetic rabbit hybrid who couldn’t handle the job and she cannot stomach the thought of falling into all the stereotypes so quickly. She knows she has to prove herself to everyone now.

She finishes dressing to find the uniform fits snugly and places her casual clothes into an empty locker. She walks up to the sinks to examine herself in the mirror and she truly looks like a completely different person. It is strange to think that only last month she was attending college classes and dressing formally, wearing her tech glasses and giving presentations on string theory. She takes several deep breaths to steady herself before smoothing out her hair and ears and heading back out into the hallway.

“I think these will work,” she informs Shiro.

“Good! Now I know everything here is a lot of new information and skills to thrust upon you, but Lance described you as a genius so I’m confident you’ll pick things up quickly.”

“He- he said that?” She couldn’t recall any moments where she felt particularly brilliant around him, but he still thought that of her and she isn’t certain why it gives her butterflies.

“Sure did. Normally we have new recruits go through classes and training but you’re going to act as my apprentice instead. I figured it would be the better route considering… your circumstances.”

One of her ears lifts curiously. “Is that in regard to being recently turned or being _rabbit?”_

He gives her a pained smile. “Let’s go with both. I personally don’t care what kind of hybrid someone is so long as they are honest and hard working, but I have no doubt there would be relentless teasing if you were to enter normal training. So for now you will be treated as a regular junior officer and I will be your FTO.”

“FTO?”

“Field Training Officer.” 

“Right. And what would you prefer I call you? Shirogane? Shiro?”

“Shiro is fine. Though if we’re ever around the Chief you should probably address me as Shirogane,” he says with a laugh. “He’s a rather strict man.”

“I see. Would it be alright if you called me Pidge instead of by my last name?”

“I don’t mind, though citizens and other officers will address you as Holt.”

“...That’s fine,” she answers hesitantly. She takes a deep breath to clear her head and looks up at him brightly. “What will I learn today?”

“We could go over the boring stuff like policy procedures and job benefits, ooor…” He gives her a mischievous smirk. “We could go straight to the shooting range?”

“Yeah, shooting range definitely,” she agrees.

* * *

  
  


The day is long and filled with all kinds of education and training to become a police officer and Pidge feels like she has jumped into the deep end of a pool of knowledge. It is a lot of information to take in and she knows she will be pestering Shiro with all kinds of questions in the upcoming days as she tries to get the hang of things. But she is grateful for the distraction to keep her mind busy, preventing herself from lingering in dark corners of thought.

She is surprised to see Lance sitting in the front lobby of the department, one foot propped up on his knee as he leans back and scrolls through his phone, his long tail draped along the side of his leg. He is dressed in casual wear so she can only assume he’s been off work for a while now. As she approaches closer he notices her, his dark ears instantly perking up as he slides his phone back into his pocket and stands up to meet her.

“What are you doing here, goofball?” she asks.

He gives her an amused look. “Goofball?”

She shrugs. “You gave me a nickname so I gotta give you one.”

“Touche, Carrots. I wanted to see how your first day went and it’s uhh... it's raining now, so I figured you didn’t bring an umbrella… or own one, for that matter.” He shows her the navy colored umbrella in his left hand.

“Oh…” She looks down at the umbrella and then out towards the glass doors to see it was indeed pouring outside, then back up to him. “That’s very kind of you.” She realizes he probably came to the police station because she has no one to go home to… and he wants her to feel that she is not alone. The thought causes her heart to soften, her eyes brimming with tears. 

“Woah hey, are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. I'm just...” She wipes her eyes with her sleeve and blinks her eyes clear to give him a reassuring smile. “I’m really glad we met. You’re a great person, Lance.”

“Oh!” He laughs and rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Well thanks! I’m glad we met too. But really it’s no problem to help out a friend.” He starts to head out the door and holds it open for her with his back, opening the umbrella. While it is a large umbrella she knows they will have to share the cover. She can’t recall ever being that close to a boy before, but then again she crawled through the air vents close to Lance when they escaped the facility. 

She walks out so he doesn’t have to hold the door open anymore and he lifts the umbrella, the pattering rain a calming sound to her ears. She is surprised to find that walking close to Lance isn’t as awkward as she thought it would be, his close presence actually quite comforting. He has to curl his tail around his legs as he walks to keep it from getting wet and it only gives her more reason to believe he is nervous being so close to her. The slight hitch in his voice as he speaks to her is rather telling.

“So how was your first day? Shiro didn’t push you too hard did he?”

She lets out a soft hum, realizing how nice it is to talk to someone about the events of her day. It fills her chest with a warmth of familiarity, something she hasn’t felt ever since her transformation. “No, it wasn’t too bad. It’s a lot to soak in, _that’s_ for sure. Shiro said he’s going to train me himself as I apprentice alongside him instead of sending me to normal police classes.”

“That’s probably for the best. Shiro’s a great teacher though, you’ll learn a lot from him,” he says fondly. “I learned a great deal from him.”

“Is that how you were able to sneak into the facility? Because of your past police training? I was honestly surprised to learn you were a doctor.”

Lance lets out a humored scoff. “Kinda. A bit of police training, a bit of a fox thing.”

“Oh really? So are the stereotypes true?” she asks playfully. “Are you a trickster and a thief?”

“A thief of _hearts_ , yes.” 

She giggles, half tempted to tell him there’s no way that’s true but then she remembers how he looks in a turtleneck and lab coat. “Oh, I’m certain.” She means it to be a sarcastic remark but somehow Pidge sounds more disappointed than anything. “But what do you mean by it being a fox thing? If anything I would imagine it would be difficult for you to be stealthy with such a fluffy bright tail.”

He looks down at his tail as if he has to confirm what she says is true. “It is a bit of a nuisance at times, I will admit. But what I mean by that is that fox hybrids are fast and agile, and we have really good night vision too. Sneaking into places might uhh… kind of be my specialty.”

Pidge can’t help the gasp that escapes her mouth. “Do… do you think you could…” She lets out a despondent sigh. “Nevermind.”

“What? No! What were you going to say?” 

They are nearing her apartment but there are still the many flights of stairs to take and she knows she can’t stall him for that long. “I… I miss my mother. I want her to know I’m okay, well… at least alive. She has assumed all this time that my father and brother were dead, and she probably believes I am too. And I… I…”

“Hey.” He stops and places a hand on her shoulder, causing her to face him. Her heart skips a few beats at their close proximity - close enough to feel his warm breath and observe that his eyes are in fact slitted, feral and mysterious. “I’ll help you see her again. I’ve… been to the upper districts before actually-”

“You have!?”

“Shhh-!” He places a hand over her mouth, looking around nervously with flat ears even though no one is around and the rainfall has intensified, drowning out most sound. He removes his hand as he whispers, "We absolutely cannot get caught sneaking into human territory. You know what they do to unauthorized hybrids caught in the upper districts?"

She knows her guess is pointless, especially when her mind is spinning at how close he is to her. "They get arrested?"

"They become lab rats. Tests for all kinds of unimaginable experiments. I've seen it firsthand and it's a disturbing sight. Come-on," he gently prompts her as he turns and starts to continue their walk to her apartment. "Let's get out of this rain."

When they reach the stairs all she can think about are all the unspeakable experiments done to caught hybrids. Would they be expecting her to sneak into the Holt home and set up surveillance to trap her? Her mind wanders to all the horrific possibilities as she climbs the stairs, her body feeling numb both from the revelation and the intimacy with Lance under the umbrella. When they reach her door she is about to bid him goodnight but a wild idea crosses her mind.

“You know, I bought a container of hot chocolate yesterday.” After she unlocks the door she turns around to look up at him. “Would you like some?”

“I would _love_ some!” 

She lets him in and gets to work on getting a pot of water on the stove and pulling out two mugs. There was an array of mismatched dishware left behind but she at least has two mugs completely intact. He sits on the edge of her bed which is in the open space by the kitchen - the bedrooms in her apartment are too destroyed so she has made the living room her bedroom. But it works since she has no couches or other furniture for Lance to sit on.

“I was thinking this Thursday,” he says casually. “If you’re down.”

Her brows crease for a moment, her mind thinking something completely different until it clicks. “Oh! Sneaking in and finding Rachel. What time?”

“Late… probably a few hours after you get off work.”

She takes a deep breath. While the thrill of it all excites her it also makes her wonder what exactly she has gotten into with fox-boy. It is an escapade exactly like this that got her where she is now. “Okay. Do you have a better plan this time round?”

“Plan? I had a perfectly good plan the first time! You were the one that messed things up! Er, ugh.” He lets out a frustrated sigh, his ears flattened irritably. “That’s not what I meant! It was all because of that stupid lock on your cage. If that hadn’t set off an alarm things would have gone differently.” 

Pidge watches the bubbles begin to form at the bottom of the pot of water as she thinks of all the other things that could ‘go wrong’ the second time around. “You don’t by chance have a laptop I could borrow? I might be able to make things easier for us because I’d be able to hack in.”

“That’s right! Laptops are kind of hard to come by down here but I’ll see if I can ‘borrow’ something from the hospital-”

“Hold up, that’s not going to harm anyone is it?”

“It’s not like I’d take a laptop that’s keeping someone’s life support running, geez Pidge.” He scoffs humorously. “I meant like a piece of junk in a storage room. Do you know how to fix computers because I’m sure I could scrounge up a bunch of broken parts.”

“If I have the tools I need I should be able to. Do you think you could get those for me by tomorrow? I’ll need a few days to work on it.”

He gives her a nod. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You’re a master thief, you should be fine.” She looks at him with a teasing smile. She picks up the pot and pours the boiling water into their mugs and stirs in the coco powder, the smell delectable. Sometimes her enhanced senses are nice. “Sorry I don’t have whip cream or anything fun,” she says as she walks over to the bed and hands him the blue mug. 

Lance doesn’t even seem to hear her as he’s making happy hums and drinking deeply of the hot beverage. “Oh this is delightful.”

She sits down on the bed as well, pulling her legs up and crossing them. They sit there in silence for a moment but it feels peaceful. Normally having a man over to her house would cause Pidge to be an awkward mess but there’s something about Lance that makes her feel comfortable and safe. She isn’t sure if this is because of the fact he rescued her or if it is simply his kind and cheery disposition. Either way she welcomes his company and almost wishes he could stay. If only her request for him to spend the night with her wouldn’t come off as lonely or desperate… but his voice snags her out of her thoughts.

“You said you would help me find Rachel and I… I wanted to let you know that I want to help you find your missing family too.”

She is quiet for a moment, her heart thrumming quickly as she tries to sort out her emotions. Her breath feels shaky and she grips her mug a little tighter. “No Lance, you don’t have to do that-”

“But I want to-”

“No you don’t understand! I’m helping you find Rachel only because you rescued me. But helping me find my family is an entirely different matter-”

“I don’t see how it’s any different,” he says with lowered brows, his expression hard.

She shuts her eyes, willing herself not to cry and to stay calm despite her racing heart. “I haven’t told you everything, Lance,” she says softly. “My parents are renowned scientists… saving my brother and father will not be easy, and I don’t want to put you or your family at risk. You can see what happened to me when I tried to get involved.” She tugged on one of her droopy brown and white ears for emphasis. “It’s too dangerous. And you’ve done so much for me already.”

“Any rescue attempt is going to be dangerous, Pidge, I get that-”

“My last name is Holt,” she cuts in painfully, her eyes brimming as she tries to get him to understand the gravity of the situation. “My father is Samuel Holt, the great-great-grandson of John Holt.”

His eyes widen, his tail shifting nervously. “As in… John Holt, author of hybrid genetic engineering?”

“Ironic, isn’t it? Considering what I am now...”

Lance stares at his hot chocolate for a moment before finishing the rest of it and looking at her, his blue eyes a mixture of sorrow and determination. “I still want to help. I don’t care how dangerous it is, you don’t deserve this.”

“You really want to help me even though you now know I’m related to the man who ruined society and made you like this?”

He offers her a sad smile. “I don’t know any better Pidge, I was born like this. The only one here who has been treated unjustly is you. And besides… if it weren’t for your ancestor, neither of us would be alive right now. Humanity would have only lasted another generation before helix cancer took everyone out.”

“I know that - but… it just doesn’t seem right to have you help me.”

He stares at her with a pained look in his eyes that she can’t quite name. He then sets down his empty mug on the floor and leans in to pull her into an embrace, causing her ears to flip up in surprise. She is reminded of his warm presence from under the umbrella but this feels even more comforting, more beloved. She can’t wrap her arms around him since she still holds her hot chocolate, but she leans her head into his chest and listens to his beating heart.

“Please don’t say that…” he says softly, his voice almost wounded. “Your surname does not define you. I don’t care who you’re related to, you deserve to be happy. Please… please let me help you. You don’t have to do this alone.”

Her resolve breaks and she moves to set her mug down as well before returning to his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulder blades as she grips him like a lifeline. There is no strength to pull her tears back as she sobs into his shirt, but he just holds her tighter and wraps his tail around her. She hates that she has become so emotional but she is grateful Lance is here to keep her grounded, to let her release all her fears and sorrows. He strokes her hair and one of her ears gently with one hand and it helps to calm her racing heart. 

“Please…” she says in a muffled voice between sobs. “I can't - I can't do this alone."

“You won't have to,” he promises softly as he holds her close. “I'm here. I'm right here..."


End file.
